Hit and Run

• What People Say

What people say... Leave your rating

Sort by: Most recent Top score Most helpful Worst score

Be the first to leave a review.

Verified

{{{ review.rating_title }}}

{{{review.rating_comment | nl2br}}}

Show more

{{ pageNumber+1 }}

Leave your rating

If there is any hobby that I enjoy as much as escape rooms, it’s board games. When I heard we were going to be visiting a new escape room that also offers a board game cafe, a few things came to mind:

1. I hope the escape room wasn’t an afterthought (as we have seen some rooms built just because a business had space, with less than stellar results)
2. I wonder if they’ve got Pandemic Legacy: Season 2 in stock.
3. I definitely should leave the credit card at home.

Dicey Business was pretty easy to find, and offers plenty of parking, so they were off to a good start. Entering the building, I was quite surprised, and very pleased, with what Dicey Business had to offer: multiple shelves of board games to play and for sale, as well as a good selection of food and drink for sale. The cafe section was also in use, with a number of people playing games at a few of the tables. The atmosphere was very positive, and was conducive to a board-gaming experience. The owners were very patient with us, as we all got fairly distracted by their game selection, though we did all agree that it would benefit them to have someone with high energy and “the gift of the gab” at the front to engage anyone coming to check out what Dicey Business has to offer.

The Room Quality of Hit and Run sparked a bit of a debate among the team, as there are a number of elements of the room which are great, but there are also elements that could definitely use some work. A lot of the props are great: real, thematic pieces. Some of the props are of cheaper quality, but a lot of these can be forgiven as they fit with the theme, and are likely pieces that one would see at a local garage. However, there are elements that detract from the experience: the walls are obviously drywall, without paint nor decor; and the space is not conducive to a group of more than 3. To this last point, we went in with a team of 5 and were feeling cramped for most of the experience. Without the higher quality props, it would be easy to mistake this room for a “pop-up.”

Unfortunately, even with some very thematic props and set pieces, this escape room is not very Immersive. The story that sets up the experience is the same as what is offered online as the room description, and you enter the room blindfolded, which doesn’t make sense as we have “broken into” this garage to investigate. Within minutes of beginning the escape, the story was forgotten, though there are points during the experience that story elements are tied into puzzles, which was a plus. The puzzles were thematic, fitting with the setting, but the setting itself was missing a few elements. First, the size of the “garage” would be way too small to be a business, which is fine because there obviously isn’t enough space for a full-sized garage. Second, the first room is quite bare, and could benefit from some more “garage-typical” decor. Third, and what I personally feel to be most important, there is no “garage-typical” smell! No oil, no gasoline, no hydraulic fluid, nothing. Adding some form of garage smell would instantly make the experience more immersive.

For the most part, the puzzles worked well for the room: thematic, logical, and all in working order. Again, there isn’t enough in the room for a group of 3 or so, as a number of puzzles are delivered in a linear fashion, and at some points some of our team was left to wander while 2 of us worked around a single puzzle. Without spoiling them, the last two puzzles are of similar design, which resulted in a bit of confusion. Other than that, and a couple bottlenecks, the puzzle set is quite good, and would suit new players.

For their first room, Hit and Run is definitely an accomplishment for Dicey Business. There is definitely room for improvement in its current state, but these are all fairly easy fixes. The team did enjoy the room, though those of us driven by puzzles enjoyed it more than those looking for an immersive experience. We would recommend this room to newer escape room addicts, and would suggest a group of no more than 4 at the most, and only if you’re all brand new to escape rooms.